RIP Ray Manzarek

The legendary founding keyboardist of The Doors Ray Manzarek has sadly passed away at the age of 74, from cancer of the bile duct.

Manzarek founded the band with Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger and John Densmore in 1964. They became icons of the psychedelic era, having found the inspiration for their name in a poem by William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

A statement from his family says: “Ray passed away today at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James

After Morrison’s death in 1971, Ray went on to become a best-selling author and a Grammy-nominated recording artist in his own right. In 2002, he revitalized his touring career with Doors guitarist and long-time collaborator, Robby Krieger.

I’m personally not a big fan of The Doors. I know a limited range of their work but it is still sad to hear/read of a true Rock legend passing away. It has put me in the mood to go back through their discography and maybe it is time for me to appreciate the legacy that these musicians have left.

David